INDEX

St. Louis Initiative Increases

Youth Labor Force Participation

Broad Avenues New Face

10

CDAC Spotlight:
Hands-On Commitment
to Financial Education

FALL 2014

How the Shrinking of the Labor Force

Might Impact Your Community

ne trend that will continue to

affect the future of economic
and workforce development in the
United States at a local, state and
national level in the coming years
is the statuscontinued decline or
possible increaseof the labor force
participation rate. This rate impacts
the vitality of local and state economies and has many national implications as it continues to fluctuate.
Many experts debate the future of
this rate. As baby boomers retire,
many expect the rate to continue to
decline. But with the likelihood of
better economic times and improved
job prospects ahead, more people may
re-enter the labor force.
Throughout the Great Recession, the labor force participation
rate declined. In July 2014, the rate
was at 62.9 percent. To put this into
perspective, the last time the rate was
this low was in March 1978, when it
stood at 62.8 percent. From January
to April 2000, the rate peaked at 67.3
percent. The lowest recorded rate was
in December 1954, when only 58.1

percent of Americans were considered

to be in the labor force. From 2000
to July 2014, the rate dropped by 4.4
percent. If the American labor force
shrinks by the same rate in the next
decade, the U.S. will be back to a rate
equivalent to the 1950s. (See Figure
1.1) Given the demographic changes
to the labor force in the past 50 to
60 years, it is almost unimaginable
that the U.S. could see labor force
rates equivalent to the years following
World War II.

FIGURE 1

Why Are People Leaving the

Labor Force?

Civilian Labor Force Participation Rate

According to the Federal Reserve

Bank of Atlanta, there are many factors that influence whether a person
aged 16 years or older is in the labor
force at any given time. One of the
biggest reasons is retirement. Others
may include being in school, having
a disability or illness, taking care of
someone with an illness, or giving up
on looking for a job. Figure 2 provides
estimates for the percentage of people
out of the labor force for each of these
reasons from 2007-2013.2
>> continued on Page 3

T H E F E D E R A L R E S E R V E B A N K o f S T. L O U I S

To put this into perspective, the

last time the rate was this low
was in March 1978.

68
67
66
65
PERCENT

By Andrew A. Pack

64
63
62
61
60
59
58
1950

1960

1970

1980

1990

2000

SOURCE: Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor

NOTE: Shaded areas indicate U.S. recessions

C E N T R A L T O A M E R I C A S E C O N O M Y

2010

Calendar
Bridges is a quarterly publication of the
Community Development Office of the
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. It is
intended to inform bankers, community
development organizations, representatives of state and local government
agencies and others in the Eighth District
about current issues and initiatives in
community and economic development.
The Eighth District includes the state of
Arkansas and parts of Illinois, Indiana,
Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri and
Tennessee.

j a n u ary

22-23

25-27

Maureen Slaten
Senior Editor
314-444-8732

Little Rock: Drew Pack

501-324-8268

Memphis: Kathy Moore Cowan

901-531-5110

Teresa Cheeks Wilson
901-531-5109

29

Free subscriptions are available

by calling 314-444-8761, emailing
communitydevelopment@stls.frb.org
or visiting www.stlouisfed.org/br/
subscribe.

Gateways to Economic
Competitiveness: IEDC
Leadership Summit
Palm Beach County, Fla.

Release of CFED 2015 Assets

& Opportunity Scorecard
Webinar

29

29

14th Annual New Partners for

Smart Growth Conference
Baltimore, Md.
Sponsor: Federal Reserve Bank
of Richmond
www.richmondfed.org/conferences_
and_events/community_
development/2015/smart_
growth_20150129.cfm

2015 Federal Reserve System

Community Development
Research Conference

MARCH

13-15

Rural Development
Conference 2015
Bangkok, Thailand
Sponsor: Tomorrow People
www.rdconference.org/

19-20

Community Development Venture

Capital Alliance (CDVCA) Annual
Conference
Washington, D.C.
Sponsor: CDVCA
http://cdvca.org/programs/events/
annual-conference/

23-27

Community Development
Academy: Building Communities
from the Grassroots; Empowering
Communities for the Future
Excelsior Springs, Mo.
Sponsor: University of Missouri
Extension
http://muconf.missouri.edu/
commdevelopmentacademy/
courses.html

From Indicators to Action:

Spurring Community
Engagement through Data
Connecting Communities Webinar
Sponsor: Federal Reserve System
https://bsr.stlouisfed.org/
connectingcommunities

EAR LY-B IR D R AT E E XP I R E S !

See April 2-3 entry below for

conference details

Sponsor: CFED
scorecard.cfed.org

St. Louis: Mike Eggleston

314-444-8610

Jeanne Marra
314-444-6146
The views expressed in Bridges are not
necessarily those of the Federal Reserve
Bank of St. Louis or the Federal Reserve
System. Material herein may be reprinted
or abstracted as long as Bridges is credited. Please provide the editor with a copy
of any reprinted articles.

Real Estate Development

& Reuse Training
Palm Beach County, Fla.
Sponsor: International Economic
Development Council
www.iedcevents.org/
LeadershipSummit/Real_Estate.html

Sponsor: International Economic

Development Council
http://www.iedcevents.org/
LeadershipSummit/index.html

Community Development Staff

Louisville: Lisa Locke

502-568-9292

Faith Weekly
502-568-9216

Sponsor: Federal Reserve System

https://bsr.stlouisfed.org/
connectingcommunities

Yvonne Sparks
Community Development Officer
and Executive Editor
314-444-8650
Daniel Davis
Senior Community Development
Manager and Managing Editor
314-444-8308

In the Shadow of the Great

Recession: Experiences and
Perspectives of Young Workers
Connecting Communities Webinar

FEBRUARY

A pril

2-3

R EG IS T ER NOW!

2015 Federal Reserve System

Community Development
Research Conference
Washington, D.C.
Sponsors: Federal Reserve System,
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
www.stlouisfed.org/
economicmobility2015

>> continued from Page 1

The labor participation rate could

continue to drop as many people who
are aging in the workforce retire and
more adults are enrolled in higher
education, which keeps them out of
the workforce. But the positive data
is that approximately 32 percent
of people who are not currently in
the workforce would like to be, as
shown in Figure 2.2 As the economy
improves, so may the number of
people working, which should have
more of an impact on economic
growth. The more people work and
spend money, the better the economy.
State- and Community-Level Impact

Lack of participation in the labor

force has an impact on the local
economy, tax base and workforce.
Much attention is focused on the current levels of unemployment, which
have continued to decline in most
regions. But more attention focused
on boosting a regions workforce may
be imperative for the future of many
areas, especially those that continue to
see outmigration. Workforce development initiatives that focus on continually upgrading workers skills to keep
them relevant in the workforce, creating incentives for dislocated workers
to re-enter the workforce and increasing collaboration with businesses will
become even more imperative to local
economic development if the labor
force participation rate continues to
decline.
One factor that contributes to the
number of workers in the labor force is
the overall population of an area. Figures 31 and 41 show the civilian labor
force by state and county in 2013. As
the maps indicate, many of the lesspopulated areas have a lower number
of people in the labor force. Tables 1-4

FIGURE 2

Contributions to Change in Not in

the Labor Force, Q4 2007Q4 2013,
by Reason
14

12
NUMBER WHO LEFT WORKFORCE (MILLIONS)

Shrinking of the Labor Force

the Region
The region served by the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
encompasses all of Arkansas and parts of Illinois, Indiana,
Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri and Tennessee.

Wants a job
32% rise
Taking care of
house or family
1% rise

10

Retired
16% rise

Other
7% rise
In school
19% rise

Disabled or ill
23% rise

0
SOURCE: Terry, Ellen. What Accounts for
the Decrease in the Labor Force Participation
Rate? January 17, 2014. http://macroblog.
typepad.com/.

list the 10 states and counties with the

greatest and least number of people in
the labor force in 2013.
What may be more compelling
is the change in the labor force from
2012 to 2013. Which states and counties are gaining workers and which are
losing them? Figures 41 and 51 show
the percentage change in the workforce from 2012 to 2013 throughout
the U.S. Tables 5-8 show the states
and counties with the greatest percentage of increase and decrease in the
labor force from 2012 to 2013.
As the data in the maps show,
labor force participation is not equal
throughout the U.S. or even within a
particular state, as evidenced by the
state of Texas. While Texas has the
second-highest number of workers
in the labor force, the third-highest
increase in labor force participation,
and five of the top 10 counties with

St. Louis Feds Inside the Economy Museum

Is Open
The St. Louis Fed celebrated a historic milestone
as the new Inside the Economy Museum opened
its doors to the public in September. The museum is
designed to be a one-of-a-kind, immersive experience that explains the economyand everyones role
in itin a fun and interactive way. Visitors will engage
in a hands-on journey through nearly 100 exhibits that
are brought to life through displays, games, sculptures
and videos. The museum also includes a multipurpose
classroom for educational groups.
Walk-in visitors as well as groups are welcome.
Hours are from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., Monday through
Friday, excluding Bank holidays. The museum is free
of charge to all visitors. For more information, visit
the museums new website, www.stlouisfed.org/
economymuseum.
Louisville CIZ Receives National Arts Grant
IDEAS 40203 and YouthBuild Louisville have
received a $250,000 national arts grant to develop a
unique Creative Innovation Zone (CIZ) in the Smoketown neighborhood. The grant will help fund economic,
educational and environmental infrastructure development in Smoketown led by artists and entrepreneurs.
Smoketown was Louisvilles first established AfricanAmerican neighborhood.
The Louisville CIZ was one of 55 grants selected
by ArtPlace America out of 1,300 applications. It will
focus on educationespecially in digital literacy and
green-space developmentwith an emphasis on public
art, and business development, pioneering new ways
for artist/innovators and community to work together to
create new opportunities in education, environmental
design and entrepreneural activity leading to jobs.

>> continued on Page 4

Bridges Fall 2014 | 3

Businesses depend on skilled labor

to make decisions regarding growth
and location. If an area is lacking in
the number of people who are in the
labor force, many of the local economic development initiatives will not
be met due to its low labor participation rate. As unemployment rates
decline in many areas, community
and economic developers must still
pay attention to other rates, including the labor force participation rate,

to improve the economic conditions

in their regions. If the labor force
participation rate continues to decline,
attracting workers will become an
even greater issue for economic
competitiveness.
In August 2014, Fed Chair Janet
Yellen spoke about labor market
dynamics and monetary policy.3 She
said, As an accounting matter, the
drop in the participation rate since
2008 can be attributed to increases

FIGURE 3

TABLE 1

TABLE 2

2013 Civilian Labor Force by State (thousands of persons)

States with the Highest Number

of People in the Workforce, 2013

States with the Lowest Number of

People in the Workforce, 2013

(seasonally adjusted)

(seasonally adjusted)

Shrinking of the Labor Force

>> continued from Page 3

the largest increase in labor force

participation, the state also has four
of the counties with the top 10 largest
decrease in labor force participation in 2013. These variances show
how complex it is to improve the
labor force participation rates in the
United States. Each state, county and
community is likely to be dealing
with very different issues, requiring
tailored solutions.

State

KEY

709

1.48K

3.01K

4.70K

18.60K

no data

FIGURE 4

Persons in workforce
(thousands)
18,596.0

Wyoming

306.3

Texas

12,818.1

Vermont

351.4

New York

9,635.8

Alaska

364.2

Florida

9,431.5
6,552.5

District of
Columbia

370.4

Illinois
Pennsylvania

6,459.8

North Dakota

400.6

Ohio

5,764.9

Delaware

443.0

Georgia

4,767.0

South Dakota

448.4

Michigan

4,706.2

Montana

513.6

North Carolina

4,695.0

Rhode Island

555.6

Hawaii

648.8

TABLE 3

TABLE 4

(not seasonally adjusted)

4.25

8.80

17.49

4 | Bridges stlouisfed.org

44.04

4.96 K

no data

Persons in workforce
(thousands)

California

2013 Civilian Labor Force by County (thousands of persons) Counties with the Highest Number
of People in the Workforce, 2013

KEY

State

Counties with the Lowest Number

of People in the Workforce, 2013
(not seasonally adjusted)

County

Persons in workforce
(thousands)

Los Angeles, CA

4,960.325

Loving, TX

0.046

Cook, IL

2,615.198

King, TX

0.153

Harris, TX

2,136.254

Petroleum, MT

0.226

Maricopa, AZ

1,903.174

Arthur, NE

0.262

Orange, CA

1,610.934

Kenedy, TX

0.273

San Diego, CA

1,590.037

Blaine, NE

0.276

Miami-Dade, FL

1,287.348

Yakutat, AK

0.285

Dallas, TX

1,200.709

McPherson, NE

0.303

Kings, NY

1,155.343

Harding, NM

0.380

Queens, NY

1,147.536

Terrell, TX

0.403

County

Persons in workforce
(thousands)

in four factors: retirement, disability,

school enrollment, and other reasons,
including worker discouragement. Of
these, greater worker discouragement is
most directly the result of a weak labor
market, so we could reasonably expect
further increases in labor demand to
pull a sizable share of discouraged
workers back into the workforce.
Labor force participation rates have
a significant impact on a regions economic vitality. Although many areas
of the country are seeing growth, not

all are experiencing the same growth,

as evidenced by the differing labor
force participation rates in different
markets. But as the national economy
improves and workers return to the
labor force, we can create a more
robust future workforce in our states
and counties.

R eferences

Andrew A. Pack is a senior community

development specialist at the Little Rock
Branch of the Federal Reserve Bank of
St. Louis.

3. Yellen, Janet: Labor Market Dynamics and

Monetary Policy, August 22, 2014. www.
federalreserve.gov/newsevents/speech/
yellen20140822a.htm

1. Geographical Economic Data, Federal

Reserve Bank of St. Louis. http://geofred.
stlouisfed.org/
2. Terry, Ellen: What Accounts for the Decrease
in the Labor Force Participation Rate? January 17, 2014. http://macroblog.typepad.com/
macroblog/2014/01/what-accounts-for-thedecrease-in-the-labor-force-participationrate.html

FIGURE 5

TABLE 5

TABLE 6

Percent Change in Civilian Labor Force by State,

20122013

States with the Greatest

Percentage Increase in Labor
Force, 20122013 (seasonally adjusted)

States with the Greatest

Percentage Decrease in Labor
Force, 20122013 (seasonally adjusted)

State

KEY

-0.55

-0.12

0.37

0.68

3.03

no data

Change from 20122013

Utah

3.0%

District of
Columbia

1.6%

Texas

1.5%

North Dakota

1.4%

Oklahoma

1.3%

Montana

1.2%

Louisiana

1.0%

Michigan

0.8%

Missouri

0.7%

Florida

0.7%

State

Change from 20122013

Mississippi

-2.0%

Connecticut

-1.4%

Arkansas

-1.3%

West Virginia

-1.3%

Oregon

-1.3%

Vermont

-1.2%

Alabama

-1.2%

Tennessee

-0.9%

Nevada

-0.8%

Washington

-0.7%

FIGURE 6

TABLE 7

TABLE 8

Percent Change in Civilian Labor Force by County,

20122013

Counties with the Greatest

Percentage Increase in Labor
Force, 20122013

Counties with the Greatest

Percentage Decrease in Labor
Force, 20122013

(not seasonally adjusted)

(not seasonally adjusted)

County

KEY

-1.93

-0.78

0.08

0.99

21.79

no data

SOURCE FOR MAPS AND TABLES: Geographical Economic Data, Federal

Reserve Bank of St. Louis

Change from 20122013

County

Change from 20122013

McMullen, TX

21.787%

Claiborne, MS

-14.770%

McKenzie, ND

21.081%

Petroleum, MT

-12.741%

Donley, TX

16.503%

San Juan, CO

-12.356%

Dimmit, TX

15.302%

Roger Mills, OK

-12.204%

Stevens, KS

14.823%

Gilliam, OR

-10.941%

Shannon, MO

13.370%

Cottle, TX

-10.724%

La Salle, TX

13.287%

Baylor, TX

-10.473%

Dewey, OK

12.968%

Jackson, KY

-10.446%

Dunn, ND

11.296%

Brewster, TX

-10.379%

Karnes, TX

11.036%

Oldham, TX

-9.946%
Bridges Fall 2014 | 5

St. Louis Initiative Increases

Youth Labor Force Participation
three jobs will require postsecondary
and training beyond high
ccording to the Heritage Founda- education
3
While
community colleges,
school.
tion, the labor force participain
particular,
are
increasingly aligning
tion rate among youth (ages 16-24)
their
curriculum
to
meet the needs of
decreased from 59.4 percent in 2007
local
employers,
labor
force participa1
to 54.9 percent in 2013. As Andrew
tion
rates
among
youth
remain stubPack has highlighted in his article in
bornly
low.
This
is
partially
explained
this issue, one of the reasons for this
by
people
delaying
retirement
and
decline is because youth are staying in
professionals
who
lost
jobs
during
the
school. This represents both a positive
Great
Recession
and
are
now
underand a negative.
On one hand, more people than ever employed, working jobs that youth
typically occupy in retail and leisure/
are graduating from high school. In
2013, the national average of freshmen hospitality industries.
For youth who are not in the
who graduated from high school in
workforce,
this often means delayed
four years was 81 percent, the first time
acquisition
of soft skills and profes2
ever that it has topped 80 percent.
sional
network
(or social capital)
However, a high school degree is
buildingtwo
ingredients, in
increasingly insufficient. According
addition
to
technical
skills, that are
to Georgetown Universitys Center
essential
to
securing
longer-term
on Education and the Workforce,
employment that pays livable wages.
by 2020 nearly two out of every
By Michael Eggleston

For youth who are not in the workforce, this

often means delayed acquisition of soft skills and
professional network (or social capital) building.

Logo and image courtesy stlyouthjobs.org

6 | Bridges stlouisfed.org

The competition for high-wage jobs is

ever intensifying, particularly in cities
such as St. Louis, where nine out of 10
jobs created between 2009 and 2013
were low-wage.
One initiative in St. Louis that
aims to prepare youth to thrive in the
labor market is STL Youth Jobs, a collaborative effort between the Incarnate Word Foundation, the Greater
St. Louis Community Foundation,
Mers/Goodwill and several financial
institutions. For the last two years,
STL Youth Jobs has provided summer
employment opportunities for youth
who live in the city of St. Louis. Mers/
Goodwill has supplied individualized
job coaching and mentoring, while
banks and credit unions have delivered financial advice and guidance for
youth in the program. The initiative
served 200 youth in its first year and
nearly 400 in the second year. It is
poised to continue this growth in the
summer of 2015.
Bill Emmons, assistant vice
president at the St. Louis Fed, has
noted, Theres simply a larger pool
of detached youth, and because the

city has struggled, the region has had

slow growth. So, anything that could
contribute to a productive workforce
would obviously have big returns.
While its too early to know what
the long-term impact will be for the
St. Louis region, it is known that
youth involved with the initiative are
not only gaining confidence in their
ability to secure employment once
their summer job has ended, but are
in fact finding jobs easier to come
by given their work experience and
their expanded professional network.
Furthermore, more than half of the
youth acknowledge that without this
initiative, they likely would not have
found employment.
There is increasing evidence to
show that social capital, or what is
developed by having a robust social

network, correlates strongly with

future earnings.4 STL Youth Jobs and
other similar initiatives provide a gateway for youth to build social capital
while also developing the soft and
technical skills that are required to be
successful in any job. This is especially
important for youth from low- and
moderate-income backgrounds, given
their relative lack of professional connections compared with their middleand upper-income peers.
To ensure that our workforce is
prepared for todays jobs and those of
the future, it is critical that youth not
only possess the required postsecondary education and training, but also
develop the skills and social capital
that come with participation in the
labor market.

Michael Eggleston is a community development specialist at the Federal Reserve

Bank of St. Louis.
R eferences
1. Sherk, James: Not Looking for Work: Why
Labor Force Participation Has Fallen During the Recovery. The Heritage Foundation, September 2014.
2. Where Is Opportunity in America? 20142015 Opportunity Index, http://
opportunityindex.org/briefingbook/
3. Carnevale, Anthony; Smith, Nicole; Strohl,
Jeff: Recovery: Job Growth and Education
Requirements Through 2020. Georgetown
University Center on Education and the
Workforce, June 2013.
4. Chetty, Raj; Hendren, Nathanial; Kline,
Patrick; Saez, Emmanuel: Where Is the
Land of Opportunity? The Geography of
Intergenerational Mobility in the United
States. The Equality of Opportunity Project, June 2014.

Broad Avenues New Face

By Pat Brown

decade ago, filmmaker Ira Sachs

was filming his Sundancewinning film, Forty Shades of Blue,
set in Memphis, Tenn. Sachs wanted
a desolate street for the films heroine
to take a final walk; he chose Broad
Avenue (Figure 1).
In 2010, the residents and business
owners of Broad Avenue decided desolation was not in their best interest.
In conjunction with Livable Memphis
and other community partners, they
staged a two-day experiment in tactical urbanismA New Face for an Old
Broad (New Face). (See Figure 2.)
The success of the initiative is
undeniable. In just over three years,
the initial investment to stage the
event ($25,000, plus tremendous
volunteer support) has triggered $20

million in property renovations and

27 new businesses. In addition, the
Broad Avenue corridor has strengthened the livability and vibrancy of the
Binghampton community where it
is located. The momentum from that
weekend in November 2010 has been
truly exceptional.
The CatalystTactical Urbanism

Tactical urbanism can be defined

as incremental, small-scale improvements meant to inspire more substantial investments.
In a 2012 article in the Memphis
Business Journal, Memphis Mayor A
C Wharton, Jr., said, Too often, cities
only look to big-budget projects to
revitalize a neighborhood. There are
simply not enough of those projects
to go around. We want to encourage

small, low-risk, community-driven

improvement...that can add up to
larger, long-term change.
When the New Face event was
reported in the St. Louis Feds publication, Bridges (Winter 2010-2011
issue), the term tactical urbanism
was not mainstream. On Broad
Avenue, the event was viewed as theaterproviding demonstrations of
what could be. For this production,
the street was the stage, temporary
businesses moving into vacant
buildings were the actors and the
13,000 Memphians who attended
were the audience.
With the blessing of the citys
engineering department, Broad
Avenue was narrowed by adding
dedicated bike lanes using house
>> continued on Page 8
Bridges Fall 2014 | 7

Broad Avenues New Face

>> continued from Page 7

FIGURE 1

FIGURE 2

paint. Buildings that had been vacant

for more than a decade were activated
with permission of the property owners. Volunteers spent two weekends
cleaning up the buildings, the local
union donated electrical work and
vendors joined in. The local media
helped promote the event.
Today, tactical urbanism has
become a very popular urban revitalization tactic. In Memphis, it has
become an annual event. Livable Memphis, in conjunction with the Mayors
Innovation Delivery Team (MIDT),
has staged four additional events,
which are now branded MEMfix
and continue to reflect how neighborhoods can leverage small investments
to jump-start revitalization. For each
of the subsequent events, the street that
becomes the stage has been redesigned
to support the needs of pedestrians and
bike riders in addition to automobile
traffic. Vacant buildings are activated
for the day and crowds continue to
come in support.
Broad Avenue Today

FIGURE 3
FIGURE 1: 2535 Broad Avenue prior to New Face. Photo by Pat Brown.
FIGURE 2: 2535 Broad Avenue during New Face. Also see Figure 5. Photo
by David Nester.
FIGURE 3. Photo simulation of the Hampline along Broad Avenue. Image
courtesy of Fuss & ONeill, Inc.

8 | Bridges stlouisfed.org

New Face brought temporary

improvements to three critical needs
street infrastructure, building activation and visitors/traffic. In the time
since the initial event, local business
ownersplus a few very valuable community partnershave continued to
concentrate efforts to achieve permanent improvements.
Street InfrastructureIt took
three years to develop the engineering plans and funding to make Broad
Avenues bike lanes permanent.
Construction on the Hampline, a
combined on- and off-street bikeway,
began this year and will be completed
by mid-2015. The unique design is
considered state-of-the-arta two-way

cycle track on a two-way street, but

physically separated from automobile
traffic. Cost to design and build the
Hampline is projected to top $4 million, the majority of which came from
federal grants and local foundations.
However, the final $75,000 was raised
from the public via a crowdfunding
campaign. View a video of the progress on the Hampline here.
Excitement regarding the Hampline (Figure 3) has triggered 10
public art installations. From murals
to sculptures, the street has become
an outdoor gallery featuring works
by local, national and international
artists. (See Figure 4.)
Activation of BuildingsThe
Broad Avenue vacancy rate today is less
than 10 percent, compared with more
than 50 percent at the time of New
Face. Two key partnerships have led to
the activation of the vacant buildings.
Broad Avenues buildings and storefronts are all independently owned.
Traditional issues such as underfunded
property owners have hindered the
renovation that would attract sustainable businesses to the area. Initiatives
developed by the MIDT and Community LIFT provided the boost to
activate the storefronts.
In April 2013, MIDT launched
MEMshop on Broad, recruiting six
new retail businesses to the street and
providing funding for capital improvements to the buildings. (See Figure
5.) Previously, attracting viable retail
to the street had been a struggle. This
initiative recognizes the difficulties
inherent in launching a small retail
business, as well as the cost barriers to
capital improvements for independent
property owners. Four of the six businesses launched in 2013 have converted to long-term leases. One entrepreneur used the process to decide not

In just over three years, the initial investment

to stage the eventhas triggered $20 million in
property renovations and 27 new businesses.
to operate due to the structured hours
required for success. The sixth retailer
has restructured its business model
and merged with one of the other
MEMshop establishments. View a
video about MEMshop here.
To complement these efforts,
Community LIFT invested in Broad
Avenue by approving its first businessdevelopment loan to Wiseacre Brewery, Memphis first taproom for craft
beer. This investment and the subsequent opening of the brewery were
more tipping points, introducing
additional visitors to the area.
Traffic/ProgrammingTo
increase visitors to Broad Avenue, area
businesses organize a biannual Art
Walk in the spring and fall. Drawing an average of 3,000 visitors to the
street, this event generates sales for
the businesses during the event, with
an even greater benefit from return
business. In addition, the Art Walks
generate a social media push, further
promoting the area as a place to shop,
eat and create.
In 2013, ArtPlace America
awarded a $350,000 grant to the commercial district to transform part of
a 225,000-square-foot warehouse on
the north side of Broad Avenue. The
1945 warehouse loading dock (still
active on weekdays) and its surrounding outdoor space have been creatively adapted into the Water Tower
Pavilion, a place for the community,
by the community. An adaptive,
dual-use initiative, the Pavilion is
considered to be the first example in
the United States of the partnering of

an industrial, active warehouse with

art performance space.
In keeping with Broad Avenues
spirit, the focus of the Pavilion is to:
support the growth of communitybased performing groups by providing access to a professional-quality
stage and opportunity to gain
performance expertise, and
celebrate community and art with
events that encourage participation.
In May 2014, the first event at the
PavilionDance on Broadwas
launched (see video). For eight weekends, dance was celebrated via performances and community dance classes.
(See Figure 6.) The festival exceeded
expectations for attendance and drew
a diverse crowd in terms of ethnicity,
age and socioeconomic status. Attendees gave the event rave reviews:
The community vibe of happiness and harmony is so great.
(Afrohouse attendee)
Race, age, gender, whateverit
doesnt matter. Everybody is having
fun. (Swing attendee)
Best gathering of people from
college students to grandmas to
babies. (Bollywood Attendee)
For the remainder of the year,
the Pavilion is hosting events every
Saturday, focusing on performances
from community groups. A plan for
sustainability of the Pavilion is in
active development.

FIGURE 4

FIGURE 5

FIGURE 6
FIGURE 4: Mural by French graphic artist Guillaume Alby. Created in 2011
to honor Broad Avenues grassroots spirit. Funded by Loeb Properties.
Photo by Pat Brown.
FIGURE 5: 2535 Broad Avenue on the eve of opening via the MEMshop
initiative. Also see Figures 1 and 2. Photo by Michael Equis.
FIGURE 6: Line dancing during Dance on Broad at the Water Tower Pavilion, May 2014. Photo by Pat Brown.

Pat Brown is co-owner of the T Clifton

Art Gallery on Broad Avenue in
Memphis, Tenn.
Bridges Fall 2014 | 9

C DAC M E M B E R S P O T L IG H T: BE N J O E RG E N S

Ben Joergens is Vice President,

Financial Empowerment Officer
at Old National Bank (ONB). He is
responsible for enhancing ONBs
financial literacy initiatives by
partnering with schools, colleges,
universities, businesses, nonprofits and government agencies to
address community needs and
implement financial empowerment
programs based on sound money-management skills.
Joergens joined ONB in 1999 and has served
in a variety of roles, most recently as Commercial
Relationship Manager in the Henderson, Ky., market.
He earned the banks 2011 Wayne Henning Volunteer
of the Year Award and was both the 2010 and 2012
Henderson, Ky., Chamber Ambassador of the Year.
Joergens is an active community volunteer
and holds leadership positions with the Tri-State
MS Association and Kyle L. Parker Memorial Golf
Scramble. He is also active with the United Way,
Junior Achievement, Bank on Evansville, Bank on
Henderson and Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Ohio
Valley, and serves as a certified VITA tax preparer
with his local United Way agencies.
Joergens graduated from the University of Southern Indiana with a degree in marketing. He earned
Omega Certification in financial accounting for lenders
and commercial loans to small business. He is also a
Henderson Leadership Initiative graduate and serves
as a member of the Community Development Advisory
Council (CDAC) for the Federal Reserve Bank of
St. Louis.
CDAC members are experts in community and
economic development and financial education.
They complement the information developed through
outreach by the Districts Community Development staff
and suggest ways that the Bank might support local
efforts. A list of current members is available at
www.stlouisfed.org/community_development/
advisory_council.cfm.

10 | Bridges stlouisfed.org

CDAC SPOTLIGHT

Hands-On Commitment
to Financial Education
By Ben Joergens

oure never too old or too young

to learn. This is certainly the case
when it comes to financial education.
This area is a significant focus for Old
National Banks (ONB) community
engagement efforts, and we are now
beginning to see numerous financial
institutions devote more time and
talent to help raise financial education
efforts in the communities we serve.
With my role as ONBs Financial
Empowerment Officer, education is

their curriculum. Banks continue to

work with state legislators to encourage the addition of personal finance
as a required course in school systems,
especially in high school. Students
continue to make choices that are
detrimental to their credit score before
their adult life even begins. The
concepts of savings, budgeting and
understanding credit, unless taught
by parents, can be nonexistent in
young students minds. Thats why
its so important to partner with

The concepts of savings, budgeting and

understanding creditcan be nonexistent in
young students minds.

a daily focus as we attempt to help as

many people as possible become more
financially literate. In my particular
role, I work daily to cultivate partnerships, research and develop curricula,
and teach classes on personal financial
management to children and adults of
all ages.
Unfortunately, personal finance is a
subject most schools arent fitting into

organizations like Junior Achievement, Girl Scouts and others to bring

programs to students that introduce
them to money management as well as
global economics.
Recently, ONB partnered with
a local detention center to bring a
financial literacy program to female
inmates who have been incarcerated
for substance abuse-related crimes.

The program encompasses a variety

of important personal finance topics, including the basics of banking,
understanding and rebuilding credit,
creating a budget, slashing expenses,
identity theft and much more.
The goal of the detention centers
program is to rehabilitate the whole
person, and financial education is an
important component of that goal.
This program helps these women
learn about money management in
a comfortable and safe environment.
Learning and understanding the basics
brings them hope and empowers them
to break the cycle.
In this 12-week program, participants meet weekly for an hour and
a half. At the end of the program, a
post-test is administered, consisting of
60+ questions related to the topics that
have been covered. The inmates are
asked a variety of questions, including
calculating compound interest and
determining how long it will take their
money to grow, based on how much
interest they are earning.
When this program began, the
inmates were not extremely interested
and were unsure of how it would benefit them. As we got deeper into the
program, we built up a great amount
of trust, shared personal examples,
and coached participants on how to
empower others to help solve financial
issues that may come up. By the end
of the 12 weeks, those women who
completed the program in its entirety
had an average test score above 80
percent, and 6 inmates scored above
90 percent!
While the test results were better
than expected, more exciting still
were some of the participants personal stories. One inmate took what
she learned during class, pulled her
credit and found out that someone

had stolen her identity while she was

incarcerated. Using the lessons she
learned in class, she was able to call
those companies where credit was
opened, explain what happened and
place fraud alerts on her account.
Now, when her sentence has been
served and she is released, she will
have a much better start on improving
her financial situation.
Another inmate who completed the
program and was just released from
jail called me recently. She had such
an enlightening tone to her voice that
day; I will never forget this call. She
shared that since she was released from
jail, she reunited with her daughter
and had already accomplished many
things. She opened a second-chance
bank account. She landed a new job,
found out where her previous 401(k)
plan was located and rolled it over
into her new plan. Last but not least,
she established a 529 Child Savings
Account (CSA) for her daughter and
committed to an automatic transfer
from her checking account into the
CSA so she wouldnt miss the money
coming out of her paycheck. She
quoted something she learned from
one of the classes in the program:
When you dont see it, you dont
miss it!
Its stories like these that reinforce
the positive impact that financial
institutions can have if they take
their employees expertise and share
the knowledge with those less fortunate who havent been introduced to
financial education. Working together
with community partners, schools
and other organizations, we can all
make a difference in peoples lives, and
encourage them to empower others
around them!

H A V E

Y O U

Heard

Maria Hampton Retires

Maria Hampton, vice president
and regional executive of the Louisville Branch of the St. Louis Fed,
will retire after 10 years of service,
effective Dec. 31, 2014. Before joining
the Bank, Hampton served a distinguished career as president of The
Housing Partnership and as executive vice president of Liberty National
Bank. St. Louis Fed President Jim Bullard and First Vice
President Dave Sapenaro praised Hamptons outstanding leadership and significant contributions to the success of the Louisville Branch and the district.

FDIC Survey of Unbanked and Underbanked Available

The FDIC has released its 2013 National Survey of
Unbanked and Underbanked Households, a third in
the series of reports that collects data on the number,
demographic characteristics and reasons that some U.S.
households remain unbanked or underbanked. Previous
studies were published in 2011 and 2009. According to
the latest findings, 7.7 percent of households in the U.S.
(or one in 13) were unbanked in 2013. Additionally, 20 percent of U.S. households (one in five) were underbanked
in 2013, meaning that they had a bank account but also
used alternative financial services outside of the banking
system. In St. Louis, the report reflects a sharp decline in
the percentage of black households that were unbanked.
Once ranked the highest in the nation at 31 percent, the
number fell to 13.3 percent in 2013.

Register Now for

the Feds 2015
Community
Development
Research
Conference
Registration is now open for the ninth Federal
Reserve community development research conference
on April 2-3, 2015, in Washington, D.C. This event will
feature high-quality, emerging research to advance our
understanding about how people and communities get
ahead, where impediments exist, how factors such as
inequality play a role and what has changed over time.
Visit www.stlouisfed.org/economicmobility2015 for more
information and to register.
Bridges Fall 2014 | 11

es

PRSRT STD
U.S. postage
paid
st. Louis, MO
permit No. 444

Resources
New Informational Podcasts
8 From the Eighth Audio Podcasts
8 From the Eighth is a podcast series from
the Community Development department at
the St. Louis Fed. Through interviews with
experts (consisting of eight questions), listeners
learn about current community development
challengesand successesin the Eighth
District, helping them to understand both the
problems and the solutions. Podcasts cover a
variety of topics, including innovative strategies and emerging trends related to community
development.
Arnett Muldrow & Associates
www.stlouisfed.org/arnett
Ben Muldrow, partner at Arnett Muldrow &
Associatesa small business in Greenville,
S.C., that specializes in downtown revitalization, economic development, community
branding and historic preservationdiscusses the impact of technology on our
communities.
Clarifi
www.stlouisfed.org/clarifi
Scott Karol, vice president of counseling
and program evaluation at Clarifipreviously

known as Consumer Credit Counseling Service (CCCS)discusses how the organization has successfully incorporated behavioral
economics principles that make it more likely
their clients will follow through on their goals.
Invest Outcomes
www.stlouisfed.org/outcomes
Steve Rothschild, president and founder
of Invest Outcomes, explains the pay-forsuccess financing model and how it is being
used to address the funding of discretionary
services, often human services.
Economic Development Podcasts
Experts from industry and academia provide
their thoughts on workforce development,
entrepreneurship and employee training in these
podcasts.
Connecting People to Work: Lessons
Learned in Sectoral Approaches
https://www.frbatlanta.org/podcasts/
transcripts/economicdevelopment/
141124-connecting-people-to-worklessons-learned-in-sectoral-approaches.aspx
How are sector-based approaches to workforce development benefiting both job seekers and employers?

Looking Around the Corner: The Future

of Economic Development?
https://frbatlanta.org/podcasts/transcripts/
economicdevelopment/141027-lookingaround-corner-future-economicdevelopment.aspx
How can local economic development
strategies evolve to address demographic
changes, technological innovation, and
increasing global competitiveness?
Microenterprises Raise the Floor
and Build a Ladder
https://www.frbatlanta.org/podcasts/
transcripts/economicdevelopment/
140929_klein_gomez.aspx
Some 31 million people are employed in
U.S. microenterprises, businesses with
five or fewer employees. Do these companies create good jobs with potential career
advancement?
To view transcripts or play the audio MP3
files, visit www.frbatlanta.org/podcasts/.